Dan Bishop

When I settled in St Just in the far south west of Cornwall, the spirit of Mr Punch began to call.

In 1976, I started to present Punch & Judy on the beach in the traditional way.

In West Penwith there are many fine, sandy holiday beaches and close access to north and south coasts, a perfect environment for those first ten years during which Mr Punch patiently showed me the ropes.

In the 1980s I served a term as Chairman of the Punch & Judy Fellowship and became a member of the Punch & Judy College of Professors.

It has been an honour and a privilege to have had the opportunity of presenting our 350 year old British tradition to so many people overseas”

Italy: Two week season at “Mirabilandia” - a theme park near Ravenna.France: 9th World Puppet Festival in Charleville Mezieres.Germany: U.N.I.M.A. 2000 World Congress, Magdeburg.Slovenija: U.N.I.M.A. 1992 World Congress, Ljubljana.U.K.: One week residency at the Millennium Dome.Russia: Obraztsov Puppet Theatre, Moscow.

Germany: In 2002 I gave a two day class with puppetry students in traditional hand puppet playing - theory & practice, Bayerische Theaterakademie, Munich.

Poland: In 2003 I gave Masterclasses in Puppet Manipulation at the Puppetry Department of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy, Bialystok.

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It has been an honour and a privilege to have had the opportunity of presenting our 350 year old British tradition to so many people overseas, and my wife Gemma and I have been proud and constantly intrigued to see how the wicked humour of Mr. Punch’s little drama seems to find the universal pulse of
people wherever we have taken him in the world.

These days, I welcome any opportunity to concentrate my energies on performing on home turf, closer to where I now live in Tavistock, Devon.